PROGRESS OP CHEMISTRY. 
627 
buret of iron^ known by the name of ^ Spiegeleisen/ of 
which enough is used to make a low steel with about | per 
cent, of carbon. One of the most interesting novelties in 
metallurgy is the manufacture of aluminium, no^v carried on, 
for the sake chiefly of its alloy with copper, by the distin¬ 
guished gentleman who holds the office of Mayor of New¬ 
castle. Idle mechanical properties of this so-called alumi¬ 
nium bronze give it great value, and it seems likely to find 
much favour for its appearance. Mr. Bell has also rendered 
no small service to science by collecting and preparing 
a large quantity of that wonderful new metal, thallium. 
Among alloys, a variety of brass containing a small quantity 
of iron has recently attracted considerable attention. The 
alloy is by no means new, though hitherto known but to few 
persons. It combines tenacity with elasticity to a remarkable 
degree, and can be easily forged. Most of the members of 
the section are probably aware of the admirable series of 
agricultural experiments whieh have been proceeding for the 
last twenty years, under the directions of Mr. Lawes, of 
Rothampstedj yet many are probably unaware of the vast 
importance of the results already established by those expe¬ 
riments. Few things are, perhaps, more difficult than to 
conduct scientific experiments in any practical art, like 
farming, to find how the resources which science discovers 
can be profitably turned to account, or how the defects which 
theory points out in ordinary w^orking processes can be 
profitably remedied. It is almost proverbial that the greater 
number of persons who attempt the introduction on their 
farms of plans suggested by abstract science, succeed only in 
finding how to lose money. It does, indeed, require a rare 
combination of enthusiasm with caution, of knowledge of 
theory with practical experience of the conditions of ordinary 
working, to carry such experiments to a definite and useful 
issue. Such rare combinations of qualities have existed in 
Mr. Lawes, and when we recollect that by associating Dr. 
Gilbert with his labours, he obtained the co-operation 
of an able and accomplished chemist, we have no longer 
reasons to wonder that the result of twenty years’ continuous 
experiment, conducted on an ample scale, with the most 
scrupulous care and systematic order, should have led to 
the establishment of results so numerous and important as 
to secure for Mr. Lawes the highest rank among the founders 
of scientific agriculture. In speaking of the chemistry of 
agriculture, I cannot omit alluding to the writings of Liebig, 
which have rendered such important services, by bringing 
vividly before the English agriculturists what was known of 
